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BALDY’S PUCK DROP Weekly E-Newsletter (September – August) |
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Baldy’s Puck Drop” Weekly E-Newsletter with Matt Leaf
Volume 68: July 3, 2025
PDF Printable Download: Weekly E-Newsletter with Matt Leaf
Dear Great Falls Americans Enthusiast: We are 52 days away from our Blue-White game on August 23rd – the season is just around the corner. We finished off a very successful Prospects Camp 10 days ago with 22 skaters and 4 goalkeepers participating. Included were a few returning players, three new players that had recently signed contracts for next season and a couple of players that have now committed after gaining the camp exposure. It was a great weekend of hockey and a special thanks goes out to the Ice Plex Staff who kept the ice in great shape, our booster club members and billet families that welcomed the players during our Tailgate Social and our partner Karma Coffee for offering coffee and breakfast items to the parents and players who were in attendance. We also identified a few future Americans’ players as they continue their development.
The schedule for the 2025-26 season was officially announced by the league last week. We’re excited for our home schedule this season as we will have some new and exciting promotions coming up. Stay tuned to Baldy’s Puck Drop for the latest happenings, but for now, set the following dates aside! Both season tickets and individual game tickets will go on sale online in the middle of July!
2025-26 Home Schedule
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Date |
Time |
Vs. |
Date |
Time |
Vs. |
|
Aug. 17 |
12:00 |
* Alumni |
Nov. 28 |
7:05 |
Helena |
|
Aug. 23 |
7:05 |
* Blue-White |
Dec. 6 |
7:05 |
Bozeman |
|
Sept. 5 |
7:05 |
Helena |
Dec. 31 |
6:05 |
$ Butte |
|
Sept. 6 |
7:05 |
# Bozeman |
Jan. 9 |
7:05 |
$ Sheridan |
|
Sept. 12 |
7:05 |
Badlands |
Jan. 10 |
7:05 |
$ Sheridan |
|
Sept. 13 |
7:05 |
Badlands |
Jan. 24 |
3:35 |
Butte |
|
Sept. 27 |
7:05 |
Helena |
Feb. 7 |
7:05 |
Butte @ Havre |
|
Oct. 24 |
7:05 |
% Sheridan |
Feb. 13 |
7:05 |
Gillette |
|
Oct. 25 |
7:05 |
% Yellowstone |
Feb. 14 |
7:05 |
Badlands |
|
Nov. 15 |
7:05 |
Bozeman |
Feb. 28 |
7:35 |
Gillette |
|
Nov. 21 |
7:05 |
& Yellowstone |
Mar. 1 |
1:05 |
+ Gillette |
|
Nov. 22 |
7:05 |
& Yellowstone |
Mar. 7 |
7:05 |
= Butte |
* Free To Public # 3rd Annual Tailgate Party
% “Think Pink” Breast Cancer Awareness
& Military Appreciation $ Special Edition Rodeo Jerseys
+ Skate with the Americans = Fan and Billet Appreciation
Look for our Team Bus, Baldy, players, staff and Booster Club Members on the 4th of July parade as we represent the Americans and promote our upcoming season. It is a fantastic way to be involved in the community and to show our support for our players and fans during the United States’ 249th Birthday. We will also have two very special promotions going on during the week through our fan activation partner DASH. The first is an ENTER TO WIN contest where we are giving away several different prizes and all you need to do is enter. We also have some special Red/White & Blue themed sale items, including a special 4th of July edition baseball hat and a new “Shot Glass Flight” package that includes our three primary logos and an American Flag on shot glasses with a special custom made flight paddle. You can access both activations by clicking on the QR code below:
Some other fan activations coming up in August include a special #1 Fan Jersey Auction where you can be the first, and only, fan to have a version of either our home or away 2025-26 jerseys for the start of the season. We will officially be launching our new jerseys during our Blue-White game on August 23rd, and this auction will take place leading up to the game. We will also auction off some specialty items signed by our alumni in attendance for alumni weekend and don’t miss out on your chance to purchase your reduced price Montana Air National Guard “chuck-a-pucks” in advance for the season. That’s right, you won’t need to worry about buying your pucks at each game, purchase them in advance for the season and they will be waiting for you at the “chuck-a-puck” table when you arrive for the game. You simply need to register with DASH (QR code above) to be fully activated and alerted to all the great opportunities we will present throughout the season.
I am happy to announce we have had two more college commitments for next season. Zac Orwig (Rogers, MN) has committed to play college hockey at the University of Oregon next season. The University of Oregon was founded n 1876 and is located in Eugene, OR, with 24,400 students and offers 420 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Their hockey program is an ACHA Division I club team and are known as the Ducks. Blake Komrofske (Colorado Springs, CO) has committed to play club hockey at Neumann University located in Aston Township, PA. The Neumann Knight’s have a little over 2200 students and carry both an NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Hockey team and a club hockey team. Founded in 1965 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, Neumann is a private Catholic university located near Philadelphia. Congratulations to both Zac and Blake for continuing your hockey journey and thanks for spending the past two seasons with the Americans.
Next up is our 3rd Annual Cornhole Extravaganza at the Beacon IceHouse on Saturday, August 16th and will be part of an Alumni weekend where several of our past players will be attending to catch up and meet the 2025-26 version of the Great Falls Americans. As usual, the Cornhole event will include a live band (Clint Reimann) at 7:00 PM. Registration for Cornhole is now open at www.greatfallsamericans.com or by scanning the QR code to the left. The alumni weekend will culminate with an alumni game (open to the public) on Sunday the 17th. The Cornhole event is an Annual fundraiser for the Americans and our Booster Club and has worked itself into being the official start of our new season. We are excited to have several of our alumni involved for the first time and look forward to seeing familiar faces and presenting our new team. On Monday, August 18th, we will officially start our training camp.
Baldy’s Shooting Club, our youth hockey Skills and Drills sessions and Sled hockey continues throughout the summer. We are currently running an “End of Season” clearance sale on several items (including apparel, game worn jerseys and other cool merchandise) in our merchandise store. Check out www.greatfallsamericans.shop for those items missing from your inventory that are marked down 50-75% as we clear out space for some new and unique products for the 2025-26 season.
I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Jess Sanstra for her two years serving as our Social Media Coordinator. Jess recently graduated from the University of Colorado and has entered the real world. But for the last two years she was the person behind the curtain managing our social media campaigns and, in the process, significantly grew our followers and our social media presence. Thank you, Jess, and we wish you the best in your future endeavors. Carrying on the excellence Jess started as our social media coordinator is local Great Falls native who has had a tremendous youth hockey presence, Amber Rivera Heck. Welcome to our hockey family Amber!
Here are the upcoming events for you to mark your calendars:
- July 4th – Happy Birthday America and see you at the parade!
- August 15-17 – Great Falls Americans Alumni All former players and fans are welcome to attend various activities culminating with an alumni game at 12:00 Noon on Sunday the 17th.
- August 16th – 3rd Annual Cornhole Beacon Icehouse. Cornhole will start at 1:00 PM with the Clint Reimann band playing at 7:00 PM.
- August 18th – Start of Great Falls Americans Pre-Season Main Camp!
- August 21st – Meet and greet the 2025-26 version of the Great Falls Americans at Buffalo Wild Wings – 7:45-9:00 PM.
- August 23rd – 3rd Annual Blue/White Game 7:05 Ice
- September 5th – Home opener versus Helena for start of 2025-26 7:05 PM Puck Drop!
- September 6th – Annual GFA Tailgate party prior to the game versus The Band “After Five” will be playing from 5:00-6:45 with plenty of food, drink and camaraderie. Puck drop is 7:05 PM.
Finally, I would like to personally thank those partners who have renewed for the 2025-26 season. As the season is approaching fast, I will be reaching out to all our partners in the coming weeks to discuss the upcoming season.
Thank you to our renewing partners for their continued support.
Eagle’s Nest Level
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Diamond Level
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Platinum Level
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Gold, Silver and Bronze Level Partners (* new this season)
| All-State Signs | Beacon Ice House | Eagle Mount Therapeutic Recreation |
| Floors & More Abbey Carpets | Central Avenue Meats | Havre Youth Hockey |
| Central MT Lock & Safe | Century Gaming | Life in Bloom Floral @ Gift Boutique |
| Coca-Cola | Craftmaster Cabinets | Culligan Water |
| Ferrin’s Furniture | Great Falls Hospital | She Bare Wax & Sugar Boutique |
| Jersey Mike’s | Karma Coffee | Murphy Law |
| Scheels | Stockman Bank | Traynor Capital |
| Visit Great Falls | Croxford Funeral Home and Crematory |
Thank you for being a part of our hockey family!
Matt Leaf
Great Falls Americans HC Inc
MattL.GFAmericans@gmail.com